IRONWOOD NATIONAL
MONUMENT, AZ ­ This Thursday at 10 am, Arizona conservationists, political
leaders and others will hold a news conference on threats to southern
Arizonas Ironwood National Monument. The event will be take place
on the monument, off Avra Valley Rd., near the entrance to the ASARCO/Grupo
Mexico Silverbell Mine.

Conservationists
have been anxiously following efforts by ASARCO/Grupo Mexico, Interior
Secretary Norton and Governor Jane D. Hull to change monument boundaries
and otherwise weaken protection. ASARCO/Grupo Mexico has turned to a seemingly
sympathetic ear in Congressman Jim Kolbe who has offered them a private
meeting, while refusing to meet with conservationists. On May 24, Congressman
Kolbes office refused a request of the Center for Biological Diversity
to participate in the Thursday monument meeting.

The Ironwood news
conference coincides with a nearby meeting between ASARCO/Grupo Mexico
officials, Kevin Messner - Congressman Kolbes Washington DC-based
Legislative Director, and two members of the Pima County Board of Supervisors.
While the last-minute invite to the two county supervisors is encouraging,
it is very disappointing that despite many requests, Congressman Kolbes
office will not include Pima County conservationists.

Any suggestions
to change the Ironwood monument should be raised through an open process,
not through the separate and unequal process Kolbe, Hull and
Norton are currently favoring. said Daniel Patterson, CBDs
Desert Ecologist. Jim Kolbe is rolling out the red carpet to hear
ASARCOs demands, while refusing to hear from concerned constituents.

Patterson had to
wait in Kolbes DC office earlier this month to get a five minute
meeting with Messner on the issue, after attempts to schedule one failed.
In that brief meeting, Messner would not dismiss the chance of Kolbe attaching
a legislative rider that would weaken monument protection through stealth
congressional action.
Its outrageous that the property owners living within the monument
have been denied a public discussion with Congressional staffers,
said Myra Smith, representative of landowners within the monument. ASARCO
gets the ear of Congressman Kolbe and they contribute nothing to Pima
County while the local people are shut out.

Designated June 9,
2000 with strong local & national public support from hunting, recreation
and conservation groups, the 129,000-acre Ironwood National Monument contains
a significant system of cultural and historical sites covering a 5,000
year period. Containing one of the richest stands of ironwood trees in
the Sonoran Desert, the monument supports at least 674 species including
the desert tortoise and desert bighorn sheep. Endangered species such
as the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, Nichols turks head cactus and
lesser long-nosed bat also live within the monuments desert mountain
ranges and valleys.

Often called the
desert tree of life ironwoods serve as nurse plants for saguaro
cactus and other native species. One of the longest-lived Sonoran Desert
trees, Ironwood flowers are pollinated by native bees, and have historically
been used as medicine. The leaves are important food for bighorn sheep,
pronghorn antelope and deer. Two areas within the monument, the Los Robles
Archeological District and the Cocoraque Butte Archeological District,
are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Hunting, camping,
ranching and other uses are still allowed within the monument.